{{Short description|Scottish advocate (born 1973)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Ruth Charteris | honorific_suffix = KC | image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png | alt = | caption = Official portrait, 2021 | office = Solicitor General for Scotland | term_start = 22 June 2021 | term_end = | monarch = {{ubl |Elizabeth II |Charles III}} | first_minister = Nicola Sturgeon<br/>Humza Yousaf<br />John Swinney | predecessor = Alison Di Rollo | successor = | deputy = | office2 = | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1973}} | birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | birth_name = Ruth Barbara Charteris | spouse = | party = Independent | children = | alma_mater = University of Glasgow | occupation = Advocate | profession = Lawyer | 1blankname = {{nowrap|Lord Advocate}} | 1namedata = Dorothy Bain KC }}
'''Ruth Barbara Charteris''' <small>KC</small> (born 1973) is a Scottish advocate who has served as Solicitor General for Scotland since 2021. In addition to being the Solicitor General for Scotland, she has been a legally qualified chair of the Scottish Social Services Council since 2017,<ref>[https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/panel-posts-faculty-twelve "Panel posts for Faculty twelve"], ''Scottish Legal News'', 22 December 2017.</ref> and has served as Chair of the Fitness to Practice Panel of the SSSC since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-24 |title=Ruth Charteris {{!}} Arnot Manderson Advocates |url=http://amadvocates.co.uk/advocate/ruth-charteris/#full-profile |access-date=2022-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224023627/http://amadvocates.co.uk/advocate/ruth-charteris/#full-profile |archive-date=24 February 2020 }}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born in 1973 in Glasgow, Charteris studied at the University of Glasgow School of Law, where she gained an LL.B (Hons) and a diploma in legal practice.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200803154306/http://advocates.org.uk/advocates/ruth-barbara-charteris?q=&s=&y=0&o=0&rs=2123123902 "Ruth B Charteris"], ''Faculty of Advocates'' [archived version, 3 August 2020]</ref>
==Career== ===Early legal career=== Charteris was admitted as an advocate in 2000 and came to the Bar on completion of her post as Legal Assistant to the Lord President of the Court of Session. Charteris served as an ''ad hoc'' Advocate Depute from 2010 to 2016. She served as a Standing Junior to the Scottish Government from 2012 and Second Standing Junior to the Scottish Government from 2016 to 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruth Charteris QC |url=https://www.gov.scot/about/who-runs-government/cabinet-and-ministers/ruth-charteris-qc/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=www.gov.scot |language=en}}</ref> After her appointment as Queen's Counsel, she served as a full-time Advocate Depute from 2020 until her appointment as Solicitor General.<ref>[https://www.lawscot.org.uk/news-and-events/legal-news/ten-new-queens-counsel-named/ "Ten new Queen’s Counsel named"], ''Law Society of Scotland'', 15 September 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Merson |first=Adele |title=Dorothy Bain QC nominated Scotland's new Lord Advocate |url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/scottish-politics/2312131/dorothy-bain-qc-nominated-scotlands-new-lord-advocate/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=The Courier |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>[http://amadvocates.co.uk/2020/new-am-silk-makes-crown-office-switch/ "New Silk Ruth Charteris QC in Crown Office Move"], ''Arnot Manderson Advocates'', 17 September 2020.</ref>
===Scottish Social Services Council===
Charteris has been a legally qualified chair of the Scottish Social Services Council since 2017.<ref>[https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/panel-posts-faculty-twelve "Panel posts for Faculty twelve"], ''Scottish Legal News'', 22 December 2017.</ref> She has been Chair of the Fitness to Practice Panel of the SSSC since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-24 |title=Ruth Charteris {{!}} Arnot Manderson Advocates |url=http://amadvocates.co.uk/advocate/ruth-charteris/#full-profile |access-date=2022-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224023627/http://amadvocates.co.uk/advocate/ruth-charteris/#full-profile |archive-date=24 February 2020 }}</ref>
== Solicitor General, 2021–present == [[File:Ruth Charteris and Dorothy Bain at Court of Session.jpg|thumb|right|Charteris alongside Dorothy Bain KC, following their appointment as Scotland's law officers at the Court of Session, June 2021 ]]
=== Appointment === On 16 June 2021 the Scottish Government announced that Nicola Sturgeon had recommended Charteris to the Scottish Parliament for appointment as Solicitor General for Scotland by The Queen.<ref>[https://news.stv.tv/politics/women-to-hold-scotlands-top-legal-posts-for-first-time?amp "Women to hold Scotland’s top legal posts for first time"], ''STV News'', 16 June 2021.</ref> Her nomination as Solicitor General for Scotland was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 17 June 2021.<ref>[https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19380563.sturgeon-commits-examine-splitting-lord-advocate-dual-role/ "Sturgeon commits to examine splitting lord advocate dual role"], Glasgow Herald, 17 June 2021</ref>
The appointment of Charteris to the post of Solicitor General for Scotland, and Dorothy Bain KC to the position of Lord Advocate marks the first time that Scotland's top law officers were both women.
===Duties=== Charteris was selected as the annual speaker at the Annual Reflections Lecture at the Edinburgh Foundation for Women in Law event.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solicitor General to deliver Edinburgh Foundation for Women in Law lecture |url=https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/solicitor-general-to-deliver-edinburgh-foundation-for-women-in-law-lecture |publisher=Scottish Legal |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref> In 2023, as Solicitor General for Scotland, she was instructed by First Minister Humza Yousaf to "fully investigate" claims that the Scottish Government had not handed over WhatsApp communications and text messages which were exchanged between senior government officials during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, following claims made during the United Kingdom COVID-19 inquiry. Yousaf had claimed that it was his "understanding" that all messages required had been handed over.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf to 'fully investigate' concerns messages not handed to UK COVID Inquiry |url=https://news.sky.com/story/scotlands-first-minister-humza-yousaf-to-fully-investigate-concerns-messages-not-handed-to-uk-covid-inquiry-12993150 |website=sky.news.com |publisher=Sky News |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref>
==See also==
* Law Officers of the Crown * King's Counsel, of which Charteris is a member
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Scottish Cabinet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charteris, Ruth}} Category:Members of the Faculty of Advocates Category:Scottish King's Counsel Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow Category:1973 births Category:Lawyers from Glasgow Category:20th-century Scottish women lawyers Category:20th-century Scottish women Category:20th-century Scottish lawyers Category:21st-century Scottish lawyers Category:21st-century Scottish women lawyers